Craig, TJ orcid.org/0000-0003-2198-9172, Calais, E, Fleitout, L et al. (2 more authors) (2023) Time-variable strain and stress rates induced by Holocene glacial isostatic adjustment in continental interiors. Tectonophysics, 854. 229815. ISSN 0040-1951
Abstract
In continental interiors, tectonically-driven deformation rates are low, often to the point where they are undetectable with modern geodesy. However, a range of non-tectonic surface processes, particularly relating to hydrological, cryospheric, and sedimentological mass changes, can produce strain-rates which on geologically-short timescales are substantially greater than those produced by tectonics. Here, we illustrate the problem that such transient strain rates may pose in low-strain environments by considering the impact that the growth and decay of the Fennoscandian and Laurentian ice sheets over the Holocene had on Europe and North America respectively. Induced deformation extended far beyond the periphery of the ice sheets, with the potential to impact on seismicity rates thousands of kilometres south of the maximum ice extent. We consider how the modelled non-tectonic deformation would have interacted with several known active fault systems, including the European Cenozoic Rift System and the New Madrid fault system. In low strain continental interiors, seismic hazard assessment – crucial for the long-term planning of critical infrastructure, including nuclear waste disposal – is often dependent on sparse information from observational and historical seismicity, and from paleoseismological studies of surface fault systems. We recommend that for a more complete seismic hazard assessment, the impact of non-tectonic transients should be considered – both in the context of the role such transients may have played in recent seismicity, and the role they may play in seismicity to come. Whilst such consideration has previously been given to the direct impact on glacial loading in areas directly glaciated, we show that it should also be considered much more broadly.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Postglacial deformation, Intraplate deformation, Continental seismicity, Strain-rates |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst of Geophysics and Tectonics (IGT) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Royal Commission For Exhibition of 1851 No external ref Royal Society URF\R1\180088 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 23 Mar 2023 10:31 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 23:17 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.tecto.2023.229815 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:197594 |